


A Rose By Any Name

by bqdfantasy



Category: Bleach
Genre: Flowers, Fluff, Language of Flowers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-06
Updated: 2014-04-06
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:10:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1424626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bqdfantasy/pseuds/bqdfantasy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ukitake Jyuushiro has known since their Academy days that he's in love with Kyouraku Shunsui. He also knows that he hasn't got a chance.</p>
<p>But when he starts receiving flowers from a mysterious admirer, he starts to hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Rose By Any Name

**Author's Note:**

> First foray into Bleach fic, woo! Unbeta'd~
> 
> The flower meanings are from here: http://aboutflowers.com/images/stories/Florist/languageofflowers-flowerdictionary.pdf

_1\. lilac, orchid_

_**** _

The first time that Jyuushiro discovers a flower-filled vase on his desk, he assumes it was Kiyone, Sentarou, or both. He shakes his head fondly at the thought, moves it so that it’s out of his way but still visible, and settles down to catch up on his paperwork backlog.

****

Later, when Kiyone and Sentarou wander bickering into his office and see the vase, they both stop. Then, at the precise same time, they ask Jyuushiro, “Who gave you those, taichou?”

****

Of course, the second they realise that they’ve spoken at the same time, they turn to each other, glaring.

****

“I asked first!” Kiyone snaps, and Sentarou shakes his head vehemently.

****

“I did!” he insists, and if looks could kill…

****

Jyuushiro sighs, and rests his head in his hands for a moment. Then the implications of their argument strike him, and he looks up.

****

“I assumed that they were from one of you,” he says slowly, a slight frown creasing his forehead. If not from his third-seats, who could it have been? Whilst he’s not unaware of his admirers, particularly when it comes to the WSA, so far they’ve seemed content to merely watch him from a distance. Jyuushiro has been more than content with that, too.

****

Kiyone shakes her head, Sentarou following a moment later. Both of them look heartbroken at the idea that someone has gifted Jyuushiro flowers before they could, and Jyuushiro gives them both a fond smile. Then he distracts both himself and them with paperwork, and decides to simply leave the question of who gave him the flowers for another day.

****

He never does get round to working that one out.

****

He does, however, find a small note tucked beneath his paperwork, where the vase had been before he moved it. It reads,

****

_I hope you enjoy them._

_Love,_

_your secret admirer._

****

And, for a split second, Jyuushiro thinks of the one man he has given his heart to, and feels a flutter of hope. Then he ruthlessly squashes it.

****

After all, Shunsui has always liked women, and he has never seen Jyuushiro as any more than a friend.

****

The flowers cannot be from him.

****

_2\. orange blossom_

****

The next time Jyuushiro enters his office to flowers, he is just as surprised.

****

It’s been several weeks since the first vase, and the flowers had lasted a surprisingly long time. Still, yesterday he had been forced to finally get rid of them, and it seems that his admirer had known that.

****

This time, what surprises him is the scent that greets him when he opens his office door. It’s a delicate, citrusy aroma, almost like an orange but not quite, and when he looks at his desk he sees a bouquet of white, flared flowers. He almost misses the small note beside them, however.

****

This time, it reads,

****

_Orange blossom, with a scent as lovely as you. Enjoy._

_Love,_

_your secret admirer._

****

This time, he moves the bouquet only to put it in the same vase as the orchids and lilac were in. He gives it pride of place on his desk, beside his pens and inks, and if he accidentally reaches for the bouquet rather than his brush once or twice, well, nobody really needs to know. After all, the blossoms do smell absolutely wonderful, and Jyuushiro can hardly be faulted for wanting to take a moment or two just to inhale that glorious scent.

****

By the time he leaves at the end of the day, the aroma has spread to most of the division. Quite a few of his shinigami, both seated and unseated, have dropped by Jyuushiro’s office simply to find out where the fragrance is coming from, and even Shunsui comments on it when he drops by around lunchtime to drag Jyuushiro away from his paperwork.

****

“Lovely smell, isn’t it?” Shunsui remarks, tipping his hat back to regale Jyuushiro with his usual laidback grin. Jyuushiro smiles back, feeling the familiar tightness in his chest that isn’t a result of his illness, but rather simply unrequited love. As usual, he ignores it.

****

“One of my favourite scents,” Shunsui adds a moment later, more seriously. Jyuushiro’s heart jumps in his chest. Surely Shunsui couldn’t be implying -

****

There’s a moment or two of silence, where they simply look at each other. It’s been a long time, Jyuushiro thinks, since either of them have been genuinely lost for words in the other’s presence. Perhaps they aren’t, though; perhaps he is simply reading too much into it. In any case, after a few seconds, Shunsui chuckles, returning to his normal relaxed persona.

****

“Come on, Jyuu-chan,” he says merrily, catching Jyuushiro’s arm and tugging him gently away from his office. “Nanao-chan will be dreadfully cross if I’m late back after lunch, and even more if I make you late.” He sighs mournfully. “Ah, so lovely but so cold…~”

****

Jyuushiro chuckles, shaking his head.

****

“I’m sure if you simply signed what she asked you to, she would be much less harsh,” he chides his friend gently. Shunsui looks at him with an expression of such horror that Jyuushiro has to laugh.

****

Neither of them mentions the orange blossoms again.

****

_3\. water lily_

****

In the next few weeks, Jyuushiro is far busier than usual. He doesn’t notice that his flowers have been replaced until Unohana, visiting him after he’s had an extended bout of illness, points them out.

****

“They’re very beautiful,” she remarks, casting an assessing gaze over them. Jyuushiro recalls that she runs the ikebana classes, and wonders what she makes of the arrangement. Now that he looks, there is a small bowl resting on a pristine white cloth, placed carefully so as to not be knocked. Within the bowl, a few small water lilies float, the glass magnifying them and splitting the sunlight to cast rainbows over the white petals.

****

“They are,” Jyuushiro agrees, smiling. “I seem to have a secret admirer; this is the third time this has happened.” He pauses, debating whether to tell Unohana about the notes. It’s silly, but he feels strangely secretive about them, as though they’re something he wants to keep just for himself. Before he can decide, however, Unohana speaks again.

****

“Some flowers have meanings attached to them,” she says, her glance flicking between Jyuushiro and the water lilies.

****

“Oh?” he asks, curious. He had been vaguely aware that flowers had a language all their own, as one of his younger unseated shinigami had described it, but he had never seemed to be able to find the time nor the inclination to look into it further. “What do those represent, then?”

****

“Purity of heart,” Unohana answers. She looks at him, smiling slightly. “What were the others that you received, out of curiosity?”

****

“Orange blossom, and a bouquet of lilac and orchids,” Jyuushiro replies. He raises an eyebrow at Unohana’s quiet chuckle.

****

“Somebody certainly is fond of you,” she says. “Orange blossom means ‘your purity equals your loveliness’, lilac is ‘first love’, and orchid is ‘refined beauty’.”

****

Jyuushiro is blushing; he can feel it. He mentally curses his pale skin. That somebody took the time to select flowers with those particular meanings for him, though…

****

“Well,” Unohana says, smiling broadly now, “I had better get back to the Fourth. I’m sure they need me for something; they usually do.”

****

Jyuushiro nods in understanding. There was almost always at least one member of the Eleventh Division in the Fourth, after all, and they alone made plenty of work for the healers. It wouldn’t surprise him if, even as they spoke, someone from the Eleventh was making their way towards the Fourth.

****

“Thank you for visiting,” he says, smiling at her. Earlier, she had given him a clean bill of health; he’s more than grateful for that, since bed rest was starting to become rather tiresome.

****

She nods in acknowledgement, and then takes her leave. Jyuushiro stays where he is, staring at the water lilies.

****

“Purity of heart,” he murmurs, tracing the petals of one of the flowers. He smiles. And, for once, he lets himself hope.

****

_4\. baby’s breath_

****

The water lilies last a surprisingly long time; they become a semi-permanent feature of Jyuushiro’s desk, the bowl positioned carefully to catch the sunlight whenever possible. The only time they’re really moved is when there simply isn’t enough room on the desk between paperwork and, occasionally, Shunsui, who has a bad habit of perching on Jyuushiro’s desk and trying to wheedle him into abandoning his work.

****

Shunsui had apparently only noticed the lilies when he almost knocked them off the desk. Fortunately, he had caught them before the bowl had hit the ground, and replaced them carefully on the desk.

****

“More flowers?” he asks, the usual faint smile firmly in place. “Ah, Jyuushiro, I might start wondering who’s trying to steal you away from me!”

****

Jyuushiro chuckles. Shunsui doesn’t really mean anything by it, no matter how much Jyuushiro wishes he would; he’s only teasing, as usual.

****

“Well, perhaps you’ll have better luck finding out who it is than I have,” he replies, and Shunsui looks surprised.

****

“There’s no note?” he asks, and Jyuushiro nods.

****

“With the first two there was,” he explains, “but not with the lilies, oddly enough.” It’s something Jyuushiro had only realised an hour or so after Unohana had left the day he had found the flowers. Upon recalling the little notes that had been left with the first two bouquets, he had searched for one with the lilies to no avail. Either it had gotten lost somewhere, or there had simply not been one. He says as much to Shunsui, who sighs mournfully.

****

“Left you in the lurch, have they?” he asks rhetorically, shaking his head. Then he grins. “Well, Jyuushiro, there’s only one surefire cure for a broken heart, isn’t there?”

****

Already knowing what Shunsui is going to suggest, Jyuushiro laughs.

****

“I won’t leave my work to get drunk with you in the middle of the day, Shunsui,” he says reprovingly, though he has a feeling his suppressed amusement removes any real chastisement from his remark.

****

But of course Shunsui persuades him eventually, just like always. He doesn’t get drunk, but he does spend most of the afternoon with Shunsui, forgetting the paperwork piled on his desk in favour of laughing and talking with his friend.

****

When he comes back, his lilies have been moved. The bowl has been placed carefully out of the way of a new vase. This one is filled with a bouquet of tiny white flowers, delicate and beautiful.

****

Jyuushiro almost misses the note tucked amongst them, but when he sees it, he smiles, and plucks it free.

_**** _

_Baby’s breath, for everlasting love. Sorry about the note for the last ones, it seems to have gone missing. I’ll make it up to you, promise._

_All my love,_

_your secret admirer_

****

“I look forward to it,” he murmurs, folding the note carefully and placing it in the drawer he’s been keeping the others in.

****

_5\. bluebells, acacia_

****

The next flowers come shortly after the graduation ceremony of the Shin’o Academy. Both Jyuushiro and Shunsui, as two of the oldest captains, had been asked to attend, and they had been more than willing. Shunsui had been flirting with every woman he saw, as usual, and Jyuushiro had forced himself to ignore it, despite the creeping sense of jealousy. It was different when Shunsui flirted with Nanao; it was never serious then, just as much as it was never serious when Shunsui flirted with Jyuushiro himself.

****

Jyuushiro knows, intellectually, that Shunsui isn’t serious when he flirts with the new graduates and the Academy teachers either. The graduates are too young for him, and the teachers know him well enough to not be fooled by his charm. Still, Jyuushiro can’t help a pang of envy as Shunsui laughs and flirts with people who aren’t him.

****

He makes it through the graduation ceremony without incident other than his envy, making a mental note of several young shinigami who might be a good fit for the Thirteenth and talking to several others who approached him. When they leave, Shunsui elects to come back to the Thirteenth with him, claiming that he’s too exhausted to make it back to the Eighth. Jyuushiro refrains from mentioning that the Eighth is actually closer than the Thirteenth; he has a feeling that Shunsui is mainly trying to avoid Nanao piling paperwork on him.

****

Shunsui ends up getting distracted on the way to the Thirteenth, anyway; he catches sight of a few of his other drinking buddies, and, bidding Jyuushiro a cheerful goodbye, he wanders off with them. Jyuushiro returns to the Thirteenth, but immediately upon his arrival he’s called to deal with a dispute between a few of the unseated shinigami, and then of course Kiyone and Sentarou need his opinion on something immediately. With all of that, it’s some time before Jyuushiro is able to get to his office and his ever-present paperwork.

****

When he does get there, he finds not just paperwork, but more flowers. This time, they are bluebells, twined with a sprig of acacia. Jyuushiro smiles, and the smile broadens as he catches sight of the paper tucked in with them. He retrieves it, unfolding it eagerly.

****

_Jyuushiro,_

_I’ve only ever had eyes for you._

_Love,_

_your secret admirer_

****

Why would they feel the need to specify that? Jyuushiro wonders. Unbidden, his thoughts go to Shunsui and the way he’d always flirted with any woman he saw - the way he’d flirted at the graduation ceremony earlier. It can’t be Shunsui, though; the other man is out drinking, after all, and most of the other times he had been with Jyuushiro when the flowers arrived. No, this is just wishful thinking. It’s enough, Jyuushiro decides, that somebody apparently liked him enough to send him such carefully selected flowers; there’s no sense in overthinking it when Shunsui likes women, and always had.

****

Jyuushiro keeps the lilies, moving them to a shelf where they’re still easily visible. By the next day, though, the new bouquet of flowers has pride of place on his desk.

****

One of his unseated shinigami remarks on it when he comes to speak with Jyuushiro about his assignment. After thinking for a moment, Jyuushiro recalls that this is the young man who had previously spoken about the language of flowers. Out of curiosity, he asks what the new bouquet means.

****

“Bluebells mean constancy, and acacia a secret love,” the unseated officer explains, and Jyuushiro’s eyes widen. Constancy - that might explain the note, then. The acacia… true, his mysterious admirer hasn’t revealed themself, but surely they would have told someone? Apparently not.

****

He thanks the shinigami, goes over what the young man had wanted to clarify, and dismisses him. Then he sits back and stares at the vase.

****

Secret love. If there’s any chance, any at all, that Shunsui might…

****

Jyuushiro resolves that, one way or another, he’s going to find out who his secret admirer is.

******  
  
**

_6\. agapanthus, alyssum, aster, jonquil, fern_

****

The next bouquet is rather a surprise, mostly because there are two in one day.

****

It’s only a week or two after the Academy graduation ceremony, and when Jyuushiro goes to his office, he finds just a single sprig of agapanthus lying atop his paperwork. Beneath is the expected note.

****

_Expect a delivery later,_

_Love,_

_your secret admirer_

_**** _

Jyuushiro frowns. Then he starts to wonder what, exactly, the writer means by a ‘delivery’. He’ll have to wait and find out, he decides, and tucks the sprig of agapanthus behind his ear in a fit of whimsy. It’s spring, after all.

****

He doesn’t find out what the ‘delivery’ is until after lunch, when an unseated member of the Fourth division comes visiting. Jyuushiro sees her coming from quite a ways off; she’s hard to miss. He and Shunsui have been having a picnic on the roof, so he has the perfect vantage point to see the shinigami staggering into his division, back bowed under the weight of what appears to be an entire garden’s worth of flowers.

****

Jyuushiro just stares for a moment. Then he looks at Shunsui, who’s clearly trying to suppress laughter.

****

“I don’t suppose you know anything about this?” Jyuushiro asks, raising an eyebrow. Shunsui shakes his head, still grinning.

****

Chuckling to himself, Jyuushiro heads down to greet his visitor, Shunsui close behind. The shinigami has an immense basket of flowers in her arms, and Jyuushiro hurries to help her with it, Shunsui quickly moving forwards to help him with it. Jyuushiro doesn’t particularly need help, since at the moment he’s enjoying a long run of good health, but he allows it. Shunsui does tend to worry, after all, even if he tries not to show it.

****

“Thanks, Ukitake-taicho,” the shinigami says once she has her breath back. She gathers herself, standing up straighter. “It’s a special delivery for you from an anonymous person, Captain,” she continues, sounding more official by the second.

****

“Anonymous, hey?” Shunsui asks, and nudges Jyuushiro. “Looks like your secret admirer’s back!”

****

Jyuushiro nods in agreement, and between the three of them, they manage to get the flowers into the office. He thanks the shinigami from the Fourth, who heads back to her division, and then turns to the flowers.

****

With Shunsui’s help, he manages to get the flowers put in various vases around his office. Jyuushiro’s not quite sure where the vases come from; Sentarou and Kiyone simply keep bringing them, and after a moment, he decides it’s probably best not to ask. Shunsui proves to have quite the knack for flower arrangement, and by the time dusk begins to unfurl, Jyuushiro’s office resembles a very well-kept garden.

****

Jyuushiro finds the expected note at the very bottom of the basket, once all the flowers have been moved. After they’ve gotten rid of the basket, he unfolds it and starts to read.

****

_Jyuushiro,_

_This, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is the delivery I was talking about. Alyssum, aster, jonquil, and a little bit of fern, all chosen just for you. Of course, none of these beauties could ever hold a candle to your loveliness!_

****

Jyuushiro blushes at that, and hopes Shunsui doesn’t notice the heat rising to his cheeks. Of course, Shunsui does, and the other man practically drapes himself over Jyuushiro in order to read the note over his shoulder. Jyuushiro tries to ignore the highly distracting fact that Shunsui is very, very close to him, and carries on reading.

****

_Hoping to finally speak to you soon; I’ll have to get up the courage first though…_

_Love,_

_your secret admirer_

****

Shunsui chuckles right in Jyuushiro’s ear.

****

“Looks like they might actually reveal themselves soon,” he murmurs, his breath tickling Jyuushiro’s ear. Jyuushiro tries very, very hard to suppress the blush that’s only worsening.

****

“Perhaps,” he agrees, forcing himself to step away from Shunsui. Whilst the other’s closeness is certainly very… pleasant, Jyuushiro is a little concerned that he’ll run the risk of doing something foolish if Shunsui keeps it up. Something like kissing Shunsui, for example.

****

“Anyway,” Jyuushiro says hastily, not turning to look at Shunsui, “I think I’d better finish up my paperwork and have an early night, after bringing that basket in here. Ise-fukutaicho most likely has quite a few things for you to sign and read over too,” he adds, knowing he sounds flustered.

****

There’s a moment or two of silence before Shunsui sighs mournfully. Jyuushiro relaxes, the tension in the room vanishing.

****

“Careful, I might think you’re trying to get rid of me, Jyuu-chan,” Shunsui teases.

****

Jyuushiro laughs, shaking his head. “Never, Shunsui,” he says, and hopes Shunsui doesn’t notice quite how heartfelt the words are.

****

_7\. honeysuckle, ivy_

****

The massive flower delivery lasts almost a month before they start to wilt and die. Jyuushiro sighs, and gradually clears them out. Eventually, his office is empty of flowers, and Jyuushiro waits eagerly for the next bouquet.

****

It doesn’t come.

****

Jyuushiro waits a few more days, and there’s still nothing.

****

After two weeks, even he can admit to himself that he’s moping. It’s silly of him, really; he’s old enough to know that material things aren’t everything. Then again, when it comes to the flowers, it’s not so much what they are as what they represent.

****

...No matter how he tries to justify it, he’s still moping.

****

It doesn’t help that he’s barely seen Shunsui since that evening. He suspects that Nanao finally managed to get him to sit down and do some paperwork; there would certainly be quite the pile of it, after the amount of time Shunsui had been slacking.

****

Niggling at the back of his mind, though, is the thought that perhaps Shunsui is simply avoiding him. He had been rather abrupt, after all, and maybe…

****

Jyuushiro is distracted from his thoughts when his office door opens sharply, and Nanao stalks in.

****

“I’ve had enough of this,” she announces abruptly, and Jyuushiro stares at her in confusion.

****

“Enough of what?” he asks, blinking, and Nanao scowls.

****

“The two of you,” she says, sounding exasperated. “Ukitake-taicho, at about seven o’clock tonight, your so-called secret admirer will be in your office. If you hide yourself, you should be able to see him.”

****

Jyuushiro stares at her for a moment or two, then his eyes widen. He can finally - Wait a moment. How does Nanao know?

****

Surely it couldn’t be…

****

He realises that she’s waiting for an answer.

****

“Thank you, Ise-fukutaicho,” he says fervently, and her expression softens a little.

****

“You’re welcome, Ukitake-taicho,” she answers. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a Captain to hunt down, and quite a bit of paperwork to be getting on with. Goodbye.”

****

She pauses at the door, glancing back. “And… Good luck.” With that, Nanao is gone.

****

Jyuushiro can barely hold in his anticipation for the rest of the day. He leaves the office at six, making sure Kiyone and Sentarou know he’s gone; after all, his visitor isn’t likely to show up if they think he’s there. Around half an hour later, he cloaks himself in a kido, suppresses his reiatsu till it can barely be sensed, and shunpos back to the office to wait.

****

Just as the clock strikes seven, the door eases open. Jyuushiro holds his breath, waiting for whomever it is to reveal themselves, and hoping.

****

Shunsui steps silently through the doorway, and Jyuushiro’s heart stops.

****

He was right.

****

Shunsui glances around, but he doesn’t seem to notice Jyuushiro’s presence. Surprising, given that Jyuushiro was almost certain that he let the kido slip when Shunsui entered. Apparently, he’s still just as good at this particular kido as he was back in their Academy days.

****

Jyuushiro watches as Shunsui pads silently over to his desk. From somewhere within his pink kimono, Shunsui pulls out a slender, delicate vase. Within a few seconds, there’s a beautiful arrangement of honeysuckle and ivy within the vase. Shunsui places it on the desk, and tucks a tiny bit of paper beneath it. Then he glances around the room once more, and lets out a little sound, half chuckle, half sigh.

****

“Maa, who would’ve thought Jyuu-chan would be so oblivious?” Shunsui murmurs, shaking his head. He runs a hand through his hair, glancing at the flowers again. “He’ll figure it out eventually,” he says, sounding oddly like he’s trying to reassure himself.  “Even if it takes him even longer than my Nanao-chan to come round…heh, even if he doesn’t at all.”

****

Jyuushiro almost gasps, but stops himself just in time. Does Shunsui genuinely think that Jyuushiro would reject him? Then again, Jyuushiro reminds himself, he’s done rather a good job of hiding his feelings since he first realised them.

****

He’s about to reveal himself, tell Shunsui that he returns his feelings and always has, but another voice breaks the silence.

****

“Are you done, Kyouraku-taichou?”

****

Nanao. Has Shunsui brought her along every time? That would certainly explain how she knew so precisely when Shunsui would bring the flowers today.

****

“Nearly, nearly,” Shunsui says absently. He glances around the room one more time, and Jyuushiro considers revealing himself - but the moment’s been lost. Shunsui steps out of the office, and Jyuushiro silently watches him walk away.

****

When he can no longer sense Shunsui’s reiatsu nearby, Jyuushiro slowly leaves his hiding place and makes his way over to the desk. His mind is whirling.

****

He picks up the note. Now that he truly considers it, he can see the tiny signs of Shunsui’s writing; the little flourishes at the ends of lines, the bold, thick strokes. Perhaps he didn’t recognise it because he sees it so rarely. Shunsui isn’t in the habit of doing much paperwork, after all. And Shunsui would most probably have been trying to avoid making his handwriting recognisable…

****

Swallowing, Jyuushiro reads the note.

****

_Jyuushiro,_ it begins, and then there’s a beautifully drawn rendition of the flowers Shunsui had brought, with a caption: _devotion and fidelity_.

****

It’s signed with the usual.

****

_Love,_

_your secret admirer_

_**** _

Jyuushiro stares at the note for a long few minutes. Then he silently leaves the office and makes his way slowly home.

****

He doesn’t know how long Shunsui has loved him for. He doesn’t know whether Shunsui has realised Jyuushiro’s feelings. He doesn’t know how the rest of the Gotei 13 will react.

****

There is one thing he’s certain of, however. And that is that he isn’t going to wait any longer.

******  
  
**

_8\. red rose_

****

The next morning, Jyuushiro wakes very early, and goes to a particular shop in the first district of Rukongai. It’s one Kaien had favoured when he was buying flowers for Miyako; the owner still recognises Jyuushiro, and greets him warmly.

****

Jyuushiro buys a single flower. It’s a red rose, and he holds it carefully in the paper the florist provides. Then, steeling himself, he makes his way to the Eighth Division.

****

Despite the early hour, Nanao is already at her desk, working away at a pile of paperwork. She looks up when Jyuushiro enters, and nods to him.

****

“Kyouraku-taicho should be here in fifteen minutes or so,” she tells him. She pauses in her writing, and her eyes go to the rose Jyuushiro is clutching. She smiles almost unnoticably.

****

“Thank you,” Jyuushiro says, intensely grateful not only for the information, but also for her decision to reveal Shunsui’s feelings. Nanao nods, and Jyuushiro quietly enters Shunsui’s office, closing the door behind him.

****

He wanders over to the window. Nanao has opened the blinds and the window, letting sunlight and a gentle breeze into the room. Jyuushiro tilts his head back, basking in the warmth, and tries not to think about all the ways that this could go horribly wrong.

****

There’s a beautiful view from Shunsui’s window, and he focuses on it to give himself a distraction. Not many people are at the Eighth this early; the division has a reputation for being laidback, and most of the shinigami there take advantage of that - and Shunsui’s frequent drunkenness and occasional hangovers - to have a lie in. The division’s grounds are almost entirely empty.

****

And Shunsui’s quarters aren’t lit.

****

“Jyuu-chaaaan!” Shunsui exclaims, frightening the life out of Jyuushiro. He whirls to see Shunsui standing in the door, grinning broadly at him.

****

“I didn’t expect to see you here this early,” Shunsui continues, thankfully saving Jyuushiro from having to respond. He’s not sure he could reply, to be honest; all his courage has deserted him in the face of what he’s about to do, and how horribly, horribly wrong it could go.

****

Jyuushiro takes a deep breath.

****

“Shunsui,” he says, cutting off the other man’s commentary on - the weather? That’s reaching, even for Shunsui.

****

Shunsui tips his hat back, looking at Jyuushiro inquisitively. Jyuushiro swallows, and hands him the rose.

****

Shunsui takes it slowly. He stares at it, and his eyes widen. Then a huge, genuine smile spreads over his face.

****

“It worked, then?” he asks softly. “I’ve always thought flowers would be the way to your heart.”

****

“You already had it,” Jyuushiro answers. “Since our Academy days.”

****

Shunsui looks gobsmacked.

****

“Then - we’ve been - “ he starts. “We could have been -” He shakes his head in disbelief.

****

“Well,” Jyuushiro says, taking Shunsui’s face in both his hands. “I suppose we’d better start making up for lost time, hadn’t we?” And he kisses Shunsui.

****

It seems to last forever, Jyuushiro’s world narrowing down to nothing but Shunsui and Shunsui’s lips and Shunsui’s grey eyes. They only part when Jyuushiro feels the all too familiar need for air, and Shunsui’s eyes are sparkling.

****

“Well,” he says, after a moment or two. “That was a good start.”

****

Jyuushiro just rolls his eyes and kisses Shunsui again.

****

They’ve got the rest of their lives to practice, after all.

 


End file.
